Just 11 days from now, Puerto Rico will get its first presidential visit in 50 years—reigniting the question of whether the island should become the 51st state. Here's why this needs to be resolved: America shouldn't have any second-class citizens. If you're an American, you should have the same rights as everyone else. Puerto Ricans don't. That doesn't necessarily mean Puerto Rico should become a state. Rather it means they should be either in or out. That's always been the deal in America.

Territories were never supposed to be a long-term arrangement. When the Philippines were in the same situation, statehood was considered, but independence was the will of the people. All good. Puerto Rico should do the same: Full statehood, or independence. (And can someone please explain to me why Puerto Rico gets to enter the Miss Universe pageant alongside Miss USA? Do the pageant people not understand that Puerto Rico is part of the United States? Wait, Donald Trump owns that pageant. Now I get it.) Check out the zoomable 1952 map of Puerto Rico above

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Beautifully illustrated, this fascinating new book looks at the states that never made it. Packed with dozens of full-color maps, Lost States is a fun way to learn a thing or two about American history.